Bangladesh Assessment 2017

On December 24,
2016, two Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB)
terrorists were killed during an operation, codenamed ‘Ripple
24’ at Ashkona in the Dakhkhin Khan area of the capital city,
Dhaka. Two women, Jebunnahar Shila, wife of ex-army Major Zahid
who was killed in a 'gunfight' with law enforcers at Roopnagar
in the capital on September 2, 2016; and Trishna, wife of absconding
JMB leader Musa, along with two children, surrendered to Police.

On October 8, 2016,
a Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit killed
seven JMB terrorists who were staying in a two-storey house in
the Patartek area in Gazipur District. Police recovered three
small arms and locally-made sharp weapons from the site.

On August 27, 2016,
three terrorists including Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, the mastermind
of Gulshan attack and his two close aides were killed in a Police
raid in JMB den in Paikpara area under Narayanganj District. Police
recovered an AK-22 rifle, one pistol, several magazines and four
live grenades from the area.

On July 26, 2016,
nine JMB terrorists were killed during a special drive of the
joint forces in Dhaka city's Kalyanpur area. The joint force recovered
13 locally made grenades, around five kilograms of gelatin, 19
detonators, four 7.62mm pistols, seven magazines of 7.62mm pistols,
22 bullets, three commando knives, 12 guerrilla knives and two
black flags with Arabic letters.

On July 2, 2016,
28 persons including 20 civilians, six terrorists and two Police
officers were killed in a hostage
crisis at Holey Artisan Bakery, a Spanish
restaurant in Dhaka’s Gulshan diplomatic zone. A pistol used by
the terrorists, a folded butt AK 22 rifle, IEDs, a walkie-talkie
set and a large number of locally made sharp weapons were recovered
from the spot.

The Awami League
(AL)-led Government, which came to power on January 6, 2009, has
consolidated
its secular commitments through 2016, reining in Islamist extremist
groups and targeting the Left Wing Extremist (LWE) movement in
the country. According to partial data collected by the South
Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), 74 Islamist terrorists were
killed and another 1,227 arrested across Bangladesh in different
raids in 2016. Prominent among those killed were the ‘national
operations commander’ of JMB Abdullah aka Noman (35); ‘Dhaka
regional commander’ of JMB Kamal aka Hiran (30); ‘military
and IT trainer’ of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) Shariful aka
Arif; Neo-JMB leader and mastermind of Gulshan attack Tamim
Ahmed Chowdhury aka Shaykh Abu Ibrahim Al Hanif aka
Amir (30); JMB ‘military commander’ for the northern region
Khaled Hasan aka Badar Mama (30); Neo-JMB ‘military commander’
Murad aka Jahangir Alam aka Omar; and JMB ‘regional
commander’ Tulu Mollah (33). By comparison, 31 Islamist terrorists
were killed in 2015 and 22 in 2014.

18 LWE-linked fatalities
were recorded, all of terrorists, in 2016. These included four
Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP)
‘regional leaders’ Anwar Hossain (40), Al Amin Hossain (35), Asadul
Islam Fakir (39) and Mozaffar Sana (40); one Gano Bahini ‘regional
leader’ Amirul Islam; nine PBCP cadres; three Gono Mukti Fauj
(GMF, ‘People’s Freedom Army’) cadres; and one Biplobi Communist
Party (BCP) cadre. Similarly, there were 17 LWE fatalities, all
of terrorists, in 2015; and 16, all of terrorists, in 2014. Meanwhile,
a total of 14 LW extremists including BCP ‘regional leader’ Badsha
Mallik (45), eight PBCP cadres, four BCP cadres and one Sarbohara
Party cadre were arrested through 2016. There were 10 such arrests
in 2015 and 20 in 2014.

The War
Crimes (WC) Trials, which began on March 25,
2010, have thus far indicted 74 leaders, including 44 from Jamaat-e-Islami
(JeI); 12 from the Muslim League (ML); five from Nezam-e-Islami
(NeI); four from Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP); two each
from the Jatiya Party (JP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP);
four former Razakar members; and one former Al-Badr member. Verdicts
have been delivered against 51 accused, including 29 death penalties
and 22 life sentences. So far, six of the 29 people who were awarded
the death sentence have been hanged.
On September 3, 2016, JeI central executive member Mir Quasem
Ali (63) was hanged at Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur District;
on May 11, 2016, JeI Ameer (Chief) Motiur Rahman Nizami
(75) was executed at Dhaka Central Jail; on November 22, 2015,
JeI Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed (67) and BNP
Standing Committee member Salauddin Quader Chowdhury (66) were
hanged simultaneously at Dhaka Central Jail; on April 11, 2015,
JeI Senior Assistant Secretary General Mohammed Kamaruzzaman (63)
was hanged at Dhaka Central Jail; and on December 12, 2013, JeI
Assistant Secretary General Abdul Quader Mollah (65), who earned
the nickname ‘Mirpurer Koshai (Butcher of Mirpur)’ was hanged
at Dhaka Central Jail. 12 others are absconding and another 11
cases are currently pending with the Appellate Division of the
Supreme Court. Meanwhile, out of 22 persons who were awarded life
sentences, four persons have already died serving their sentence
– former JeI Ameer Ghulam Azam (91), who died on October 23, 2014;
former BNP minister Abdul Alim (83), who died on August 30, 2014;
former JeI National Assembly member S.M. Yousuf Ali (83), who
died on November 17, 2016; and former JeI member Gazi Abdul Mannan
(88), who died on December 19, 2016. 11 others are absconding
and another seven are lodged in various jails of the country.

Significantly,
on September 29, 2016, Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution
to confiscate all movable and immovable assets of the convicted
killers of the Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and
other war criminals. Further, on December 11, 2016, the Minister
of Law Anisul Huq announced that the Government was drafting a
law to impound assets of war criminals. Meanwhile, reaffirming
her determination to continue the trial of war criminals, Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed on December 14, 2016, declared, "No
one will be able to save them [war criminals]. Whatever the tactics
and conspiracy they devise, the trial will go on. I think the
time has come the people will have to be vocal. Those who nourished
the war criminals, gave them the political rights in the country
gave them flag, are the same criminals (sic). They didn’t
want the country’s independence and they also do not like development
of the country."

Disturbingly, however,
on December 8, 2016, Lieutenant Colonel Anwar Latif Khan, Additional
Director General (Operations) of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB),
noted “The terrorist organizations are facing a severe manpower
shortage after they lost some high-profile terrorist leaders and
trained members during special drives in the previous months.
The terrorist outfits want to regain their striking power by hiring
new faces, the sources said when they were asked about the recent
incidents of going missing by some youths (sic).” Further,
on December 19, 2016, Mohamad Shafiqul Islam, Deputy Inspector
of General (DIG), Chittagong Range, warned “After the attack on
Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, the old JMB, which was the follower
of Bangla Bhai (Siddique ul-Islam), has become active again. We
are keeping an eye on their activities. Most of the JMB members
who carried out bomb blasts in 63 Districts are out of jail. We
have launched a hunt for the terrorists who were named in the
charge-sheet in the bomb blasts case.”

Moreover, there
is the threat of increasing radicalization, as significant numbers
of youth appear to be attracted to the movements of global jihad.
Research conducted by East West University, Dhaka, concluded,
on November 21, 2016, that one in every 10 university students
in Bangladesh supports terrorism. The study found more than half
(51.7 percent) of those students who support terrorism were from
well-off families. In terms of age groups, and 54.7 percent of
those who share such radical ideas were aged between 18 and 25
years. Similarly, Non-Government Organisation (NGO) Shopner Desh,
which conducted a preliminary research project on the impact of
militancy, disclosed, on December 20, 2016, that most rural students
believe terrorist propaganda. Some 20-25 per cent of Districts
in Bangladesh were at risk of terrorist activities and the tendency
is significant among students of village and rural level educational
institutes, where some 26 per cent of students have received offers
to join terrorist activities, the new study revealed. The study
also found that 87 per cent of rural students who received such
offers think that terrorist activities are justified.

Worried about the
increasing number of women taking up the extremist cause, law
enforcement agencies disclosed, on December 25, 2016, that several
woman terrorists were active in Bangladesh. Most of them were
members of JMB, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, and Neo-JMB. Although law enforcement
agency members failed to determine the number of women involved
in extremist activities, recent operations in different parts
of the country exposes the increasing number of women terrorists
in these groups. At least 20 women have been arrested on terrorism
charges from different areas of the country. According to sources,
the terrorist groups pair up a female and a male member, who identify
themselves as husband and wife, a pattern spoken of as the ‘couple
module’.

On July 26, 2016,
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued a 19-point directive to the
Deputy Commissioners (DCs) across the country to discharge duties
more carefully and strictly in maintaining peace, law and order
and stability by eliminating militancy, terrorism and communalism,
and ensuring that people are not harassed and deprived while receiving
government services. Further, on October 8, 2016, Hasina declared,
“Our Government has always taken stern action against terrorism
and militancy and would continue to curb the twin demons with
an iron hand.... There would be no place of terrorism and militancy
on Bangladesh's soil.” Reaffirming her firm stance against extremism,
on December 29, 2016, Hasina noted, “All will have to remain alert,
mobilize public opinion and wage a social movement against terrorism
and extremism so that no one can choose such wrong path anymore.
We want peace and there will be no development without peace.
Terrorism and extremism are not the path of Islam… Islam is the
path of peace and there’s no place for terrorism and extremism
in it.”

The AL-led Government’s
achievements on the counter-terrorism and internal security fronts
through 2016 have been remarkable. Moreover, the Gulshan café
siege have stung the Government and law enforcement agencies to
take the issue of extremism even more seriously and to declare
an all-out war against terrorism. After the attack, law enforcers
conducted pre-emptive strikes at a number of terrorist dens, recovered
arms, ammunition and explosives and thus prevented further terror
incidents. However, the menace is far from over, as terrorist
recruitment continues, and new strategies are devised to launch
further attacks, creating a significant threat to development
and social stability. Given the sheer depth of radicalization
in Bangladesh – cultivated under the patronage of successive Governments
and legitimate political parties over decades – this is not a
problem that is going to go away anytime soon, despite the exemplary
efforts and determination of the Sheikh Hasina regime.